


'cause i got something to ask

by tongham



Category: Cravity (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, Love Letters, M/M, Oblivious, Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27362182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tongham/pseuds/tongham
Summary: “you know –” taeyoung says through a mouthful of noodles and seongmin sends him a death-glare from across the cafeteria table. the elder widens his eyes, nodding slightly in respect and allowing himself to digest before speaking again. “you know those letters i was talking about? i got another one today.”“really?” seongmin says idly, pushing some shredded cabbage around his tray. “how many is that now?”“i think it was the fourth. i was getting worried, it’s been longer than usual since the last one.”“same stuff as before?”“pretty much. i won’t go into detail out of respect but i really don’t know who it could be.”seongmin laughs shortly. “because everyone in this school adores kim taeyoung?”“exactly, up top!” taeyoung holds his palm out for a high-five. seongmin just rolls his eyes and takes a bite of cabbage.
Relationships: Ahn Seongmin/Kim Taeyoung
Comments: 5
Kudos: 45





	'cause i got something to ask

**Author's Note:**

> i'm back already??? and gongtang is the first cravity ship i wrote multiple fics for!! truly my ride-or-die everyone else can go home lol
> 
> writing this was a rollercoaster (day 2 and november's already looking rough... that is sad) but i pushed through and persevered despite the busy day! it still feels a bit ~off~ to me for those reasons but i hope it doesn't appear as flawed as i view it
> 
> title from hi~ by lovelyz (highly recommend for the full experience!!! i listen to this song so much it just came naturally haha).

“hey! kim taeyoung!”

the aforementioned high schooler turns around at the familiar calling of his name by his best friend, voice high-pitched but fierce and barreling toward him at lightning speed. “what’s the rush?” taeyoung asks innocently, steadying a hand on seongmin’s shoulder and welcoming him with a warm smile.

the shorter boy holds out a waiting hand impatiently. “give me back my stickers.”

taeyoung scoffs at the accusation, playing up his shocked expression to pull a reaction. “what stickers?”

“shut up, i know you have them,” seongmin whines, stomping in place and taeyoung simply laughs joyously. it’s how the best friends have always been since they met at the beginning of high school: seongmin is much too impatient and taeyoung is much too go-with-the-flow.

“is it really that urgent?”

“yes! now give.”

taeyoung grumbles about seongmin’s bossiness and lack of manners ( _ “not even a  _ please _ ” _ ), earning a punch in the shoulder as he slides off his backpack and rummages for the sheets, handing them over to seongmin finally.

“thank you, best friend. now, if you’ll excuse me...” seongmin turns in the opposite direction but taeyoung catches his wrist before he can bound off again.

“where are you going? first period is this way.” taeyoung jabs a finger in their original direction.

“oh. um.” seongmin’s voice goes small and his eyes fall to the hallway floor, “i just have to go to the washroom right quick.”

“alright, then,” taeyoung responds. “don’t be too late to class, you know how ms. yoo gets.” smiling again, taeyoung gives seongmin a small pat on the back as they part their separate ways.

* * *

“you know –” taeyoung says through a mouthful of noodles and seongmin sends him a death-glare from across the cafeteria table. the elder widens his eyes, nodding slightly in respect and allowing himself to digest before speaking again. “you know those letters i was talking about? i got another one today.”

“really?” seongmin says idly, pushing some shredded cabbage around his tray. “how many is that now?”

“i think it was the fourth. i was getting worried, it’s been longer than usual since the last one.”

“same stuff as before?”

“pretty much. i won’t go into detail out of respect but i really don’t know who it could be.”

seongmin laughs shortly. “because everyone in this school adores kim taeyoung?”

“exactly, up top!” taeyoung holds his palm out for a high-five. seongmin just rolls his eyes and takes a bite of cabbage. “but whoever it is, they must be really good at keeping secrets. there’s zero indicators to narrow down my search.”

“isn’t that why they’d be doing it anyway? knowing you, you’d announce your secret admirer’s identity to the entire student body the moment you figure it out.”

taeyoung opens his mouth to protest before seongmin drops his chopsticks on his tray and stares back, challenging him to object. taeyoung doesn’t.

“give this person some time to gather the courage. you’re sweet, taeyoung, but you’re unintentionally intimidating.”

taeyoung contemplates, nodding before his eyebrows draw together. “is ahn seongmin trying to give me a lesson in patience?”

the smaller student sighs in exasperation but his lips quirk up into a smile regardless. “i’m just saying you need to learn to balance your search for this person with literally everything else in your life.” finished of his meal, seongmin stands up slowly. as he passes by taeyoung, he comments, “you can’t be using your study periods to loiter by your own locker for an hour.”

“that was one time!” he shouts after his retreating friend before slumping in his seat, staring back at a cold bowl of vegetable broth with thoughts still racing.

* * *

“just one more run-through, alright?”

taeyoung nods at the words of dance team captain song hyeongjun, pushing his long bangs back and repositioning himself to begin again.

“you said that twenty minutes ago and yet here we are,” grumbles a senior, son dongpyo, from taeyoung’s side. hyeongjun’s head snaps up, slightly intimidating, and the junior tries his best to keep his giggles silent.

in the moments before the music restarts, taeyoung looks to the side at seongmin and – huh. he’s distracted. seongmin is usually attentive when he drops by for the dance team, a missed bus route-turned-excellent sounding board. it’s not like seongmin to actively be disinterested, taeyoung’s only ever seen it as an act to grate the older boy. maybe they’re not as close as taeyoung believes they are? he’s been noticing that he’s been more distant since – 

it occupies taeyoung’s thoughts too much, clear as the opening beat kicks in and he completely misses the cue. hyeongjun jabs the spacebar and shouts out a “kim taeyoung!” but it’s with no malicious intent, playful at this point. a few crew members sigh but taeyoung doesn’t care.

“sorry!” taeyoung apologizes with a sheepish smile before the team launches back into routine, this time with taeyoung’s focus sharp.

when the group finishes for the day, hyeongjun approaches taeyoung. “hey, you alright?”

“yeah,” taeyoung says honestly. “it’s just...” his words fall off, tilting his head in seongmin’s general direction and hyeongjun puts a hand on his shoulder, nodding in acknowledgement.

“he’s probably just busy with school. just let him know i prefer when he’s giving us feedback.” hyeongjun laughs and walks off, leaving taeyoung to his own devices.

willing down the strange feeling in his stomach  _ (c’mon, taeyoung, it’s just seongmin) _ , the taller boy hovers wordlessly over his best friend. shrouded in his shadow, seongmin abruptly closes his books once he’s aware of taeyoung’s presence, pens trapped in the bindings. “hey.”

“jesus, taeyoung, no need to channel your inner serial killer,” seongmin grumbles, unzipping his backpack violently.

“that’s on you for not paying attention. by the way, hyeongjun says he prefers your participation.”

“i’m sorry but i have my own affairs to take care of.” hand outstretched, taeyoung helps seongmin stand up with a spring in his step.

“wanna come over for dinner?” taeyoung retrieves his own belongings and turns to the shorter boy. “my mom’s making homemade pizza.”

“sounds perfect,” seongmin replies easily and they share a smile, taeyoung wondering why he even felt like something was off-beat between them.

* * *

after seongmin leaves the kims’ for home, taeyoung retreats to his bedroom and pulls a small envelope out of his pocket. he received another letter from the mystery person today, he’s been waiting all day for full privacy to read it.

smoothing out the numerous folds, taeyoung begins to read the neat syllables printed on the familiar rose-tinted paper.

_ youngtae (can i call you that? i know lots of people do but it may be strange coming from me), _

_ have i told you the story of how i came to like you? embarrassingly fast, it was the first time i saw you dance after you came to this high school. it’s quite the complement to your bright personality, your ego’s big enough already but you’re kinda cool, taeyoung. _

_ i honestly don’t even know why i’m doing this anymore, the letters and everything. there’s only so much i can tell you without revealing my identity. there’s so much i wanna tell you, by the way, but it’s too personal. i’ll just have to wait and hope you’ll come to me first. _

_ unless... if you genuinely want to know who i am, come to the third floor after school next wednesday, outside the dance room. hope to see you then, youngtae _

his nickname is signed off with heart doodles in bright pink, taeyoung notes, but what sticks to his mind most is the date and time of a proposed meeting. anxious at the prospects of his admirer’s identity, taeyoung scans the letter over and over through the evening into the night, parsing information for the smallest of hints.

on what taeyoung estimates to be his twenty-fifth read, everything suddenly clicks into place in his mind and he sits up abruptly from his leisurely position, falling onto his bedroom floor with a soft  _ thud _ .

* * *

“seongmin,” taeyoung says breathlessly, running up to his friend approaching their high school. “i cracked the code. i know who it is.”

“wow, really?” seongmin asks with a small smile. “i knew you’d get it eventually! did you meet them yet?”

taeyoung shakes his head and seongmin draws in a breath. “but!” taeyoung interjects. “i will be meeting  _ hyeongjun _ on wednesday. it was so obvious, all the hints were dance-related!” taeyoung sighs, content with the weight lifted off his shoulders.

“taeyoung,” seongmin tilts his head, brows furrowed, “doesn’t hyeongjun have a boyfriend?”

“what?”

“wasn’t he dating the dance captain before him? i just assumed they’re still together.”

taeyoung shrugs his shoulders. “and i assumed they aren’t. but who else is it gonna be, seongmin? dongpyo?”

seongmin rolls his eyes. “you never know, everyone loves you or whatever.”

“hey, are you happy for me or not?” taeyoung says, half-joking but he knows the slight hurt in his voice bleeds through. he’s really excited about this, why is seongmin being so difficult? or is taeyoung just looking too much into his reaction, courtesy of those intrusive thoughts from dance practice?

“i’m happy you’ll find out who it is on wednesday. i’m not happy that you’re jumping to conclusions,” seongmin mumbles, voice growing quieter as he continues.

“what?” taeyoung repeats.

seongmin goes silent, turning to look up at taeyoung and smile wryly. “just expect the unexpected, alright? i don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

* * *

when wednesday comes, taeyoung seriously debates running in the opposite direction. his contemplation is sincere but that is not a very  _ kim taeyoung _ thing to do and he has a personal brand to uphold, thank you very much. any way, his feelings may be complicated but excitement is definitely included in that mix.

even after seongmin’s little moment as his voice of reason, taeyoung’s nerves remain itching to know the pen’s identity, whether it be someone as close as hyeongjun or a complete stranger. he remains confused about a lot of things but there’s no doubt that this person and their words have made taeyoung feel a few butterflies in his stomach, as much as he may hate to admit to his feelings. he’s interested in getting to know and working something out with the mysterious party.

taeyoung runs toward the fear, bounding up the stairs with his long legs from his literature class on the first floor immediately upon dismissal. moving against the current of traffic, teenagers worn down with the mid-week slump, taeyoung struggles to catch his breath as he begins his wait in front of the dance room. he wanted to be here first and it looks like he is, the room dark and deserted with hallways draining empty.

taeyoung gently touches his jeans pocket, where he kept the past letters over the course of his ordinary day as a reminder. he doesn’t take them out to read them, he’s a bit embarrassed to fall ill to such clichés (even if they  _ are _ really sweet), it’s just nice to have them there as a tangible reminder.

the junior slides down against the wall, sitting cross-legged on the floor and preparing for a long wait. ‘after school’ is quite vague for a specification, does it mean five minutes or five hours following dismissal?

taeyoung goes from fiddling with his home screen to scrolling through tiktok to untying and retying his shoelaces, each routine becoming decreasingly engaging as time rolls on.  _ (taeyoung just has an incredibly poor attention span, he was alone for 15 minutes at the maximum.) _

finally, the sound of footsteps ricochet off the metal lockers and closed doors, causing taeyoung’s head to snap up immediately. “seongmin?” he says to no one in particular, vocalized as a self-observation – he’s still much too far away to hear.

“hey,” seongmin says breathlessly once he catches up to taeyoung’s place. the elder boy lets him take a moment to cool off and regulate his lungs.

“they didn’t show up,” taeyoung says dejectedly, taking seongmin’s appearance as a sign that his friend was worried about his lengthy absence. “hyeongjun or anyone else. guess i’ll have to wait and find out another time.”

“no, taeyoung,” seongmin says, still breathing a little heavy.

“it’s fine –”

“taeyoung,” the smaller boy repeats, much more firm this time and taeyoung has no choice but to listen. “get up.”

taeyoung gratefully takes the hand helping him to stand, face continually set in a worried frown. “seongmin, you didn’t have to –”

“it’s me, you idiot.” seongmin sighs loudly. “i sent you the letters.”

taeyoung freezes in that moment, hand still holding seongmin’s. a short moment passes and the younger boy is reminded of their contact, gently removing his hand from taeyoung’s grip.

“i understand if you don’t feel the same,” seongmin continues on his own, “but i hope this won’t make stuff between us awkward. even if it’s just as your friend, i wanna keep being around you so i’ll respect your decision.”

taeyoung’s expression turns to contemplation, carefully processing whatever it was that just happened. “i didn’t even know you were such a good writer.”

now it’s seongmin’s time to go speechless and that makes taeyoung puff with pride. “that’s all you have to say for yourself, kim taeyoung?”

his shoulders fall again at seongmin’s blow. “what am i supposed to say?”

“well,” seongmin begins, shifting in place and willing taeyoung to look at him, “confessions are typically either accepted or declined. and you know my grades, you should know i’m a good writer. didn’t i let you copy my homework before?”

taeyoung nods sheepishly. “can we have a do-over with that one?” seongmin tilts his head as a silent question and, yeah, taeyoung sees it now. cute. “run up to me again, like you just did.”

seongmin shoots him a glare but obliges anyway, walking backwards to an undetermined point and jogging up to taeyoung for the second time that day.

“tae –”

“wanna stop by the bakery with me?”

“huh?” seongmin blinks his long lashes but taeyoung doesn’t let himself get (too) distracted.

taeyoung hoists his backpack, deflated from where he was using it as a cushion. “i like you too, seongmin. i’m asking you out.” taeyoung purses his lips, nodding slightly and letting his closed smile reach his eyes. “on a date.”

“oh. um,” seongmin turns shy, avoiding taeyoung’s gaze. the elder boy wishes he would just look at him but he’s not crazy enough to place a hand under his chin. at least, not yet. “yeah. when?”

“right now, baby.” taeyoung’s signature grin spreads across his face, grabbing seongmin by the hand and pulling him along as they sprint down the empty corridor. the giggle-tinted complaints of the smaller boy are amplified by the architecture, taeyoung’s favourite sound complemented by his favourite feelings: the physical, seongmin’s warm hands in his, and the emotional, the comfort in falling for a best friend in every way, no matter what.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for making it this far (again? perhaps)! hoping i didn't commit some fatal error that exposes this as a work built in a day (as if that isn't normal, i just like waiting for at least a year before setting my words out into the wild world wide web)
> 
> comments, kudos, any acknowledgement is much appreciated in these trying times! gotta go fast to water these crvt tags myself lol. also hmu on twitter @deuichas or at curiouscat.me/tongham!


End file.
